


Paper Hearts

by Captain_Lexa



Series: Starker Asks Inspired [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Older Man/Younger Man, Possibly Unrequited Love, Underage Kissing, who's gonna call the cops on me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 20:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15008579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Lexa/pseuds/Captain_Lexa
Summary: The story of Tony and Peter's first kiss and the misunderstanding that ensues. Inspired by the answers on Starker-Asks.tumblr.com.





	Paper Hearts

Peter Parker would never claim to be the casanova his mentor was. Literally anyone could and **would** attest to that. He was an open-hearted kid, almost to a fault really, and he held that heart in the palm of his hand, which he gave oh-so easily.

At first, it seemed sweet. Like a cute, imaginary little paper-mâché project that he clumsily offered to his classmate Liz Toomes.

Despite being less than amused by his flakey attendance, she seemed to think he was endearing. Take that and the little bit of confidence his newfound identity brought, and Peter honestly didn't think he was that bad of a bargain. Not that he ever had the chance to prove himself, after her and her mom left for Oregon.

After that, the summer came quickly, and well, there wasn't anyone left to distract him from the more unrealistic object of his affections.

Mr. Stark was so far out of anyone's league that Peter knew it'd be a hopeless venture to offer him his silly little arts and craft project of a heart. Instead, he thought to offer something more concrete. Something more tangible.

Himself, really.

Peter pulled about every cliched trick in the book: Putting anything even remotely sanitary between his lips to suck on, finding any and every reason to bend over and stick his ass out, and literally _changing_ in front of the man whenever possible. Hell, he even sat in the lab wearing nothing more than his boxers for **twenty minutes** the other day, just waiting for Mr. Stark to notice him.

More and more, Peter was beginning to feel stupid, which... yeah. That was saying a lot, coming from him. He didn't give up though! Giving up just wasn't the hero thing to do, so he'd be damned if he didn't at least get a double take out of the guy.

That being said, maybe showering at the facility hadn't been the smartest idea....

Peter could see it perfectly in his head. He'd show up, claim to be sweaty from some after school crime fighting that didn't actually happen, and he'd have to take a shower before joining Mr. Stark in the lab. Save for the towel around his waist, he'd be completely naked, and in desperate need of borrowing some of his mentor's expensive clothes. Surely, he'd get a reaction then, right??

The answer was yes. A reaction was the **least** of what he got.

Joining Mr. Stark back in the lab, Peter couldn't even begin to describe himself as anything remotely sexy, the cool air conditioning eliciting shivers along with every cool drip of water down his spine. Any seemingly effortless seduction he had in mind completely vanished as he pattered quickly across the floor, teeth chattering and fingers digging into his own arms.

" _Jesus_ , Sir, has it always been so cold in-" His wet feet sliding out from beneath him, Peter skidded the last few steps into Mr. Stark. His speedy reflexes guided one hand to clutch tightly at the fabric of Stark's shirt, while the other shot blindly out towards the adjacent counter in a desperate attempt to catch himself.

To be fair... he _did_ catch himself. And to be honest? He also totally might have knocked about half of the counter's glass and  **unimaginably** expensive equipment onto the floor, shattering most of it in an instant.

"Shit, Peter," Mr. Stark hissed, anchoring Peter to his side with what seemed to be only a minor reluctance as he stared at the mess. "Wasn't that spider bite supposed to make you a little more graceful? You looked like Bambi sliding through here."

Peter wasn't listening.

Clenching his eyes shut in frustration, Peter couldn't bring himself to do much of anything. All he could think was that this was yet _another_ failed attempt to get Mr. Stark to notice him. Not only was he not even remotely seductive in this moment, but he also managed to destroy all of their work from that week. If anything, Mr. Stark was going to hate him **more** now. It was embarrassing. It was awful, and the only thing that kept Peter from slipping and sliding his way out of the facility right now, was that he could now say Tony Stark had held him, if nothing else.

"Pete?"

His attention caught by the softened change of voice, Peter opened his eyes just a crack. Immediately, all he could see was that all too familiar look of amusement tinged with sympathy. The sight had filled his cold, miserable chest with a feeling of exasperation, and suddenly he couldn't bother to be 'subtle' anymore.

(Not that sliding across the floor naked into his crush's arms was particularly subtle.)

"Please just _kiss me,_ Mr. Stark," Peter whispered, the needy whine in his tone audible even to him.

He didn't dare tear his pleading eyes from the other's, determined to watch whatever rejection he had coming. As if Stark might have pity on him if he saw just how torn Peter was after putting his stupid self in this position.

If the rough hand that now moved to cup his cheek wasn't an indication towards that very thing, Peter wasn't sure what it was.

With eyes that seemed to be filled with this odd sort of saddened fondness, Stark pressed their lips together. The kiss wasn't particularly long or passionate, but it did leave Peter speechless, which was a feat all of its own. Suddenly, all Peter seemed remotely capable of doing was staring, his wide eyes boring into the dark ones above as a quiet chuckle vibrated throughout the chest against him.

"Sometimes, when you ask nicely enough, you just might get what you want." Stark muttered, helping right Peter on his feet before turning his back once more. "Now, pick your jaw up off the floor, and help me get literally _everything_ else you knocked over off it too."

A small smile twitching at the corners of his lips, Peter couldn't help but agree.

If only they had left it there.

* * *

For about four days after what Peter was already considering the best kiss of his life, the two lived in an oblivious bliss. One thinking that he somehow managed to bargain his way out of any more awkward flirting with just a kiss, and the other thinking he finally managed to fall into the relationship of his dreams.

Peter had spent the days more relaxed than he had the past few weeks, all smiles and helpful little comments. He was back to his old self, if not a little touchier. Having never been in an actual relationship before, let alone one with someone of such a high status, Peter was struggling to find his footing. To even say he was moving **slowly** would be an understatement.

The only real change in their relationship so far had been the switch from 'Mr. Stark' to 'Tony', and as exciting as that had been, Peter was hoping for more.

Namely? Another kiss.

This time they were sitting in a common area, Tony on the couch and Peter on the floor with his back to it as they enjoyed a pizza. To Tony it was nothing more than dinner after a late night of working on upgrades, but to Peter it was maybe the closest they could get to an actual date. Things were going pretty well too. Already, Peter had earned quite a few laughs out of Tony, who often times seemed harder to crack by each passing day.

He was starting to feel confident. Too confident obviously, considering he was now involved in a one way relationship with his mentor.

But with that last fact unbeknownst to him, Peter decided it was time to move things along.

"Come here a sec," He said, twisting to face Tony as he gestured the other down to his level.

Clearly suspicious, Tony arched an eyebrow from behind where he was nursing another beer. "And _why_ would I do that?"

"You got something on your face, dude," Peter lied simply.

At the very least, Tony seemed to buy it, setting aside his drink and leaning his face down into Peter's headspace. Peter, who waited all of about one second before craning his own head forward and clumsily bumping their lips together for the second time.

Only this time, Tony was quicker to sever the connection, cutting this kiss even shorter than the last as he went rigid in his seat.

Now, Peter might not have always been the best at picking up on certain social cues, but he could damn well tell when he had done something wrong, even if he didn't exactly know **what** that something was. Because of that, he wasn't above apologizing, opening his mouth to do whatever damage control he had to to keep from fucking this up so soon.

He had expected to get a little further in his apology than he did before Tony was holding up a finger, silently shushing him as he stared down in silence for several long, excruciating moments. Already, Peter was gnawing at his lips, fingers digging into the denim of his jeans as he tried to discern where he had gone wrong.

When Tony spoke again his voice was strained, but his eyes never strayed from Peter's scared face.

"We're not... doing _that_. That kiss, Pete... it was a one time thing. This isn't- We're not-," Whatever he said next was lost on Peter's buzzing ears. His face went red hot in humiliation, as his chest went ice cold, the paper-mâché heart crumbling inside of it.

Desperate to smoothen out the creases, Peter hastened to force on a weak smile, ignoring the childish tears that were already threatening to blur his vision at the thought of fucking up something so important to him. "But Tony-"

 _"_ Damn it, kid! _"_   He jumped in surprised at the way Tony slammed his hand on the armrest, the man deflating almost as soon as the words left him. "It's Mr. Stark. It's always **been** Mr. Stark."

This time, Peter couldn't stop the flood. Whereas Tony's breathing was deep and slow, his was ragged and short as the first tear slipped down his cheek. He'd been stupid. He'd been _so stupid_ to believe that someone like Tony Stark could want him outside of a cheap kiss of pity. To think that he ever expected more- to think that he ever _allowed_ himself to think that someone as perfect as Tony could want him- made him feel like the biggest joke to ever live. He felt so, hopelessly dumb and naive, and the worst part was that he  **knew**  there wasn't any coming back from this. No 'live and forget'.

"Come on, kid. Don'y cry on me, you know-"

"I'm not. I'm not," Peter fibbed obviously, teeth digging into the inside of his cheek as he wiped furiously at his wet eyes. "It's not a big deal. Honestly. I'm not...." At a loss for words, he felt his throat tightening, a strained whine slipping from his closed lips as he stumbled to his feet with the last shred of dignity he had.

"Peter-"

"It's fine. I'm just- _I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark,"_ Backing quickly away from Tony's outstretched hand, Peter placed himself against a wall, eyes resolutely staring through his tears to the doorway he entered through. "Can you just call Happy, ...please?"

Beat after beat of silence passed with no movement from either. No sway on either side as Tony could do nothing more than watch Peter's paper heart crumble, as if his wasn't doing the same.

Maybe there was a reason no one ever thought he was capable of loving someone other than himself.

A few more tense seconds crawled by before Tony, breathing a burdened sigh of their shared anguish, removed his phone from his pocket. "Sure thing, kid."

**Author's Note:**

> This work was prompted by my followers on Starker-Asks.tumblr.com, a blog where I answer questions in character as Tony Stark and Peter Parker. If you like what you've read, I'd recommend checking it out! Also, kudos to my friends at starker-trash.tumblr.com and starkerislife.tumblr.com , who put up with my whiney ass long enough to check it over and make sure it has any sort of quality whatsoever.


End file.
